ADC Primary Crisis: “Go To Appeal And State Your Case” — Igbawua Fires Back At Amaechi, Hayatu-deen

Amaechi had earlier rejected the result of the presidential primary, alleging widespread voter exclusion and electoral irregularities. He claimed that a large percentage of party members nationwide were denied the opportunity to participate in the voting process.

Similarly, Hayatu-deen announced that he would not attend the official declaration of the primary results, citing concerns over alleged irregularities during the exercise.

Reacting to the developments during an interview on ARISE Television, Igbawua—who serves as an adviser to the ADC National Chairman, David Mark—said the party already has established internal structures for resolving disputes rather than resorting to public rejection of outcomes.

He explained that the ADC has appeal mechanisms at every stage of its electoral process, including screening and primaries, allowing aggrieved aspirants to formally challenge decisions.

According to him, “The various electoral panels had appeal panels which are on ground. So, the first appeal would come from screening. If you felt you were screened out unfairly, you will go to an appeal panel, and they will look at your case, and if you were right, you’ll be cleared.

“These are the internal mechanisms that are put in place for grievance resolution. Now, these same panels are on ground for the primaries proper. Anybody who is aggrieved by the primary process: go to the appeal and state your reasons.

“So, I think it will be jumping the gun to say you do not agree, and then, well, maybe I expect that they will still go to the appeal panel.

“If you think things were not done correctly before the process started, it is known that these are human processes and something is bound to go wrong, and that is why the appeal panels were put in place, and it’s available for everybody.

“We withheld clearance for just two candidates, all of them got cleared by the appeal, and they contested the governorship primaries in their various states.